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Yellow Mule

Black diamond Big Sky, MT

Steepest pitch33°
Vertical1,300 ft
Length4,381 ft
Average pitch17°
FacesSE
Top9,592 ft

Yellow Mule drops 1,300 vertical feet over 4,381 feet of skiing, with a steepest pitch of 33° about 3,220 feet below the top. That's steeper than 77% of the 4,740 black diamond runs we've measured in North America, and the 89th steepest of 290 named runs at Big Sky. It faces southeast.

How well Yellow Mule holds snow

Snow preservationPoor

Facing southeast at an average 17°, Yellow Mule gets about 137% of the winter sun that flat ground at Big Sky does, December through March. That's sunnier than 95% of the runs we've measured, and the 34th sunniest named run at Big Sky. Its top sits at 9,590 feet.

Angled toward the low winter sun, it bakes: powder turns heavy soon after a storm, and in spring it softens early in the day and refreezes hard overnight. Shading from ridges and trees isn't counted yet.

Yellow Mule profile

under 25°25–35°35–45°45°+ Hover to follow the line on the map.

Where it is on the mountain

Runs like Yellow Mule elsewhere

Nearby at Big Sky

Measured by ZRankings from 1-meter USGS lidar. Steepest pitch is the steepest stretch of about 50 vertical feet along the skiable line. Run lines come from OpenStreetMap and can sit a little off the skied path.